News stories from Sunday April 23, 1972

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke took their final moonwalk and retrieved rock and soil samples. [NBC] The Communist offensive in South Vietnam continued. A battle was reported near Dong Ha and the Central Highlands were shelled. North Vietnam also attacked An Loc. President Nixon's Moscow trip is said to have been the key to the timing of North Vietnam's offensive, but the trip is still set. Kremlin buildings are being refurbished for Nixon's visit, and plans for the summit meetings are moving along. [NBC] Campaigning continues in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Americans for Democratic Action endorsed George McGovern. The "new" McGovern is campaigning among the so-called hard hats, and he claims to have the same appeal to them as George Wallace. McGovern says that jobs and taxes are the big issues and he noted that his positions on those issues are similar to Wallace's. Party leaders are skeptical. In Pittsburgh today, George Wallace held the biggest political rally of any candidate in the Pennsylvania primary and spoke out against busing; the crowd was generous with donations. [NBC] Willy Brandt's party lost in elections in West Germany. Ratification of the treaty with the Soviet Union may be affected. [NBC] Actress Natalie Wood and actor Robert Wagner announced plans to remarry after a slow trip on the Queen Elizabeth II. [NBC] The Chinese ping-pong team toured Williamsburg, Virginia and visited the University of Maryland. The Chinese refused to talk about anything other than ping-pong, and they had no comment on Maryland students booing Tricia Nixon as an "antiwar gesture". The team also went to New York City and will visit Disneyland. [NBC]